I want to get a NAS drive for my home network but am very computer dumb. I have 1 wireless desktop, 2 laptops, 2 smartphones, and 1 android tablet that would be sharing the content of the NAS drive. What I want to know is can I just get a NAS and plug it into the LAN port on my router or do I need to get something else to share the contents of the NAS drive out wirelessly thoughout my home network?
That's exactly what an NAS is designed to do; just plug it into your network and you can share the storage. They usually come with some software that you run on one of your computers, or you can access an embedded Web page using any browser. This helps make it easy to configure so that the other computers can "discover" it for sharing. If your computers can "see" each other on the network -- whether they have a wired or wireless connection -- they'll be able to see the NAS device.
I'd encourage you to make sure that the NAS device supports DLNA. It's not a big deal, but this makes it simple to find music, photos, and other media files that are stored on it. It makes it easy to enjoy your favorite music on your various devices.
Also, if space permits, don't forget to use the NAS as backup storage for your computers and smartphones. People are storing more and more data on these devices -- some of it irreplaceable -- but don't back it up. Copying any critical files to the NAS device just takes a minute, and is valuable insurance against a disaster.
Alfred Poor
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